Beneath the Skin
by Ladiladida
Summary: AU of Thor. Loki had bitterness enough, until those that claimed to care unknowingly tore what mattered from him. Now desperate he is willing to tear earth in two to get it back. Loki/OFC
1. Prologue

_**A.N Hello. This fic has been reuploaded with a few changes such as a new name for my OFC (formerly Meridian, now Evadine) there is method in the madness and may be a few minor changes in the first two chapters reuploaded. The good news is my mojo is back and this fic will now continue with regular updates.**_

_**Prologue**_

_There was something in the memory of her and the emptiness from the lack of her presence around him that Loki could not shake away. It did not haunt him exactly, her face did not flash before his eyes at strange moments. No, instead it was an ache, an ache deep inside like a pang of hunger, an ache of necessity. All atmosphere and tension was lost within any room he entered, robbed from within it by her banishment. As time passed, passionate anger had given away to that quiet, deep ache that raged on inside him. Haunting moments were mere fancy but she, his Evadine was somewhere vast below, lost to him. How he would gladly peel the skin of the earth from its mantle to find her were it in his power, for she was the only hour he sought._

_He remembered how they would rest on one of the many open balconies that jutted out over Asgard, illuminated by the sun. She would always lie stretched out on her back, occasionally rolling onto her side should the prism within the light become too concentrated in her eyes. He would stand at the end of the balcony staring over the extravagance and grandeur of all that surrounded them. Whenever he stood thus she would laugh at him for looking upon everything as though he were its master. Loki would stand with his back to her at first pretending not to hear, but then he would turn and look at her, those blond waves sprawled out roughly beneath her head. He often saw flickers of gold within those threads when she rested in the light, such a stark contrast to his own. They would just stare at one another, the moment seeming to stretch and expand far beyond the seconds it really was until he eventually withdrew himself from the edge._

_"The sunlight does become you would-be King."__ She would say, not seeming to care whether he took her words as a taunt or as praise. Evadine would prop her head on her elbow and look up at him as he gazed down upon her. Loki liked her for the words she used, he felt she did indeed respect him far deeper than anyone else, far beyond being son of Odin and brother to the future King of Asgard. She in turn was nothing of consequence really, another person to grace the banquets or festivities that Odin provided within Asgard. Evadine knew she was nothing in this hierarchy, that is why she always dared to say something for words were all she had. But she could wield them as well as many Asgardian warriors could wield their weapons._

_Loki would often kneel beside her and both their eyes would stare out over the balcony to the towers beyond. Now as he sat here alone it truly validated what he felt. The memories were one thing, but to not have her presence still was the greater pain. He did not see himself as the affectionate sort, hardened as he was by the disappointment of seeming second best to Thor coupled will his knowledge of his true birth. That is why she would never allow him to think of himself as any kind of future King, why she would laugh the way she did. It was to spare him the false pride he could build in the hope of one day becoming so. And from this as well as many other small things within her he found he did indeed feel affection after all. _

_Many months passed this way, their paths would both drift up to this place whenever they felt the urge. Sometimes one would come up and find that they were alone and other times they would find communion. It was not any sort of courtship nor did anybody seem to be aware of the growing attachment between one of Odin's sons and a nobody. When they found themselves in the crowded halls together they might speak or perhaps glance at one another, but other times nothing would pass between them at all. Was it the easy way of it that made him feel so much aching now? His inner rage would make him imagine and plot all of the vengeful things he could do to be validated as important, to appear powerful and definitely to matter. Such thoughts were far more concentrated in their poison now; he would happily slay his father, brother and his brother's friends but not his mother, for he did love her. But those that did not welcome her words and had led to her banishment would suffer, yes indeed they would. But something was to be done first. He had to discover Evadine, he needed her to see all that he would do and to show her he did not do it under the veil of a would-be King. No, he would do it as Loki, in his own name and in the strength she gave him, the anger that was fuelled by the injustice done to her._

_The night she had passed into his chamber had occurred not long before her banishment. She had snuck in like a shadow merging with the dark and silence to near him as he slept. Her hand she said had reached out to touch his face when he had snapped awake from instinct, gripping gripped her viciously by the back on her neck and arm before slamming her to the ground. Loki remembered the sound of flesh and bone hitting the solid floor beneath and how he had assailed her further still before realising who it was who had entered. Her body had been crushed under his weight, his knee pressing hard into her chest and a hand about her throat before rational thought made him feel a woman under his touch and not an assailant. _

_In the darkness he realised then it was Evadine and he released her from the burden of his weight with a start. When he brought a light to her face his blood had run cold. Her eyes were open, wide and staring at him in painful recognition and her hair on one side was now stained with the blood from his blow. He moved her to his bed and then rose to get the only help he felt he could, his mother but as he was leaving she called._

_"So arrogant to think one would enter your chamber to slay you."__ Though far feebler than her usual words it was the same tone that she used on the balcony. _

_"I shall not be gone long." He had promised as though she was dying, but she was not, her will far too strong to die by such an assault. But she never came to him again, things returned to as they were before. His barbarity only appalled him further and fuelled his disappointment and anger both with himself and all those around him, except her. Whenever he recalled the incident he now remembered the feel of her frame underneath his strength, how inferior it was to his in all but will. It was a marvel of the strangest sort. The passionate connection he felt for her became far more real, masquerading itself as a promising lust but hiding something far greater._

_Their final interview before her banishment seemed at the time the same as any other, events flowed as though déjà vu until the final moment when he was to leave her. Evadine rested her hand at the centre of his chest to stop him and the contact rooted him to the spot. They barely ever touched. Fatigue seemed to overcome her except in those wide, violet eyes that still looked at him sharply. He looked at her brimming with inner feelings so strong he had to restrain himself remembering he always must wait. She stared at him for a long moment with a look he did not quite understand but it pierced him to the bone. Finally she said._

_"They will likely strike a blow against you my dear before you strike out at them and they won't see themselves doing it."_

_Loki had not answered her; he only looked at her for a few moments longer as he strove to overcome this frighteningly powerful surge of feeling within him. He had to go and he walked back towards his father's throne without looking back at her. The next morning he arose and was told she was gone._


	2. Evadine

**Chapter 1**

The sky was a deep indigo, cloudless and speckled with stars and a full disc moon. It was a calm night, nothing raging in the atmosphere, all was serene. Evadine looked upwards, her gaze focusing so hard it was as though she were trying to strip back the night. Her soft breathing whispering in unison with the light breeze that made her hair gently flap against her neck. There she stood on the vast lawn, her bare feet engulfed by the overgrown blades of lush grass and she wore the nightdress she had made herself. It was the kind of style that she wore at home; down here everything was so very different.

A man silently opened the French doors and stood watching her, seeing that though the moon shone down silver upon her, her own hair gleamed with little flecks of gold. It was not an earthly sight that hair, it was of another world, he knew that but he knew her too. Its length was shorter than when he first met her, she had cut several inches yet it still draped majestically past her shoulder blades.

"Are you alright Evadine?" He called and she turned to face him, those endless violet eyes and that haunting beauty she had almost overwhelming him. Her appearance was so majestic and her eyes speaking of a soul so deep that it was clear she was not human. In public she would wind up her hair and dress how people of Earth did, blending in. But now, draped in the silken fabric and glowing like some distant star she truly was the best of another world.

At first her face betrayed a kind of loss, some part of her was clearly absent but at the sight of him she smiled.

"I am well Yvan, go inside to Isabelle, it is only the moon."

Yvan Hendelman paused a moment still a little reluctant but then he retreated, closing the doors softly and returned to the warmth of his wife.

"Staring at the sky again?" Isabelle asked.

"She rarely does it now, in fact it must be over a year since I last found her doing so."

"What do you think she left behind?"

"I don't know. Something vital, it haunts her you can tell. I see it in her eyes sometimes when we are working, but if I try to see what it is I seem to become as lost as she is."

"We are very much in love with her my darling." Isabelle said embracing him and Yvan laid back on the bed with her. He cupped her cheek with his hand.

"She is our family."

Outside a sudden heavy breeze was snaking itself through the trees, shaking them to a strong whistle. Evadine turned her head to them, she watched the branches wave wildly for several seconds then still again. When all was quiet she laid down on the ground, her arms stretched out. Closing her eyes she became conscious of nothing other than herself. Her lungs pulled in deep drafts of air and then expelled them. She repeated this action several times until her mind was clear and on the last she squeezed her eyes even tighter shut and her fingers clung to the grass.

Out of nowhere her mind seemed to pierce reality and a great pain dominated every part of her body. All over felt a like a knife was cutting to the bone before twisting. Evadine bit down on her lip so hard she tasted blood but that was such a small part of consciousness over the agony that now seemed to have become soul deep. Her brain and the tips of her fingers seemed to become her centre points, but this rush that was determined to fill her as well as the pain wanted to leak from her eyelids so she screwed them all the tighter shut. Urges to cry out to realise the pain also filled her as she became engulfed and overwhelmed by it, but she would not. The pain increased to a crescendo, when unable to take anymore her arms snapped to her sides, her eyes flew open and the breath was thrown from her lungs. An invisible force seemed to leap from her body, lurching her into an upright seating position.

For two or three seconds she panted and felt pain give way to exhaustion and she fell back against the grass as though boneless. All was quiet, that gentle breeze lapping, the silver moon illuminating all around, then she heard it. That rogue breeze rushing through the trees making them quake just as before, the same sound, the same length of time, all was the same. She stared into the inky blue sky and whispered.

"Did you see?"

Evadine imagined somewhere far above and beyond someone was answering her, but it would not be the person she hoped. How right she was for on the bridge guarding the gateway to Asgard stood Heimdall shaking his head slowly. He would have to tell Odin all he had just witnessed.

Evadine still lay on the grass, her exhaustion opening her mind to the past and she remembered lying boneless and bleeding, when Loki had shown the strength he had without realising it was she. Her mind recalled the look of rage turning to horror in an instant, how light had brought realisation and guilt in his eyes. For long moment he had looked at her, those blue eyes accounting for his brutal action. It was her punishment of course, she had taken the step to go and be with him. Nothing between them beyond shared glances and times on the balcony had occurred and yet she was ready to give herself up to him. The fact he had never asked was what drove her to take such a step. When he had lifted her away from the spot she had caught sight of the patch of blood where her head had crashed to the stone floor which had sealed her fate. Healed she might have been but revealed and vulnerable she had become, they had found out what she was.

She had seen Odin many times at various celebrations, but she had never stood before him and been addressed directly. It was his wife that could not help but give her away, there was something in that blood, something about the way her hair gained its glow as she healed that betrayed her as different. Odin asked her several things about herself and how she was involved with Loki. It was here she realised that part of Odin feared his 'son' in some way but whether love was keeping that at bay she was not sure. Evadine did not answer in too much detail, nor would she tell them more than they had discovered for themselves.

"What are you?" Odin had asked at last, impatient.

"I am the line between morality and immortality, I believe."

This had not satisfied and she had been sent back to her place, but she knew that that had not been then end, she told Loki as much.

_"They will likely strike a blow against you my dear before you strike out at them and they won't see themselves doing it."_

When she returned to Odin the following day she was given a choice, she refused and so she was banished. Her first feeling of being exiled from home was laid on grass just like this, she was still dressed as an Asgardian but she had laid for an endless amount of time just looking upwards at the sky, waiting, hoping to return and realising that she would not.

Then and now her thoughts were always the same, she did not allow herself to hurt or pine for any reason other than one; Loki?


	3. Searching

**A.N Hello, long time since I updated here. This chapter is a bit of a filler BUT the fic has been planned and regular updates should appear now. **

**Chapter 3**

If only Evadine knew what raged above her in Asgard, how Loki skulked unseen to Jotunheim and made a deal with the devil in the form of Laufey. Loki owed neither Odin nor Thor a dot of loyalty or love. One had banished she who had meant anything to him and the other seemed to fall naturally fortunate despite his arrogance. But Loki knew Thor, he knew his pride, his folly and it was so easy to manipulate him into attacking Jotunheim for 'the good' of Asgard. For a moment he was nervous, it seemed certain that Laufey and the frost giants would end their lives but Odin's arrival had spared them. Odin had hopes of appeasement but none could be found with Laufey.

Evadine did not see how Loki secretly smiled when Thor was stripped of his honours and banished to that same earth as she, she did not see how he plotted and embraced his true nature. Would she be saddened to see how a bitter confrontation between Loki and Odin ended? Loki did not care; he confronted his father without restraint about his true birth, bitterness and anger bearing a penetrating sting. Then with the wound ripped open all control left him and Loki demanded answers about Evadine.

"Why, when you seem to ardent in your wish to make me your son would you take such steps to assure the opposite?" He bellowed.

"Loki, you are my son. I did all of this for your care." Odin replied, a quake appearing in his voice as his strength began to wane and crack.

"What do you know of what is right for me? You believe bringing me here to live as your son would quench all that you feared was buried deep in my true birth? You denied _me_ my wish out of fear of reprisal when if you truly knew me you would realise you have only guaranteed it."

"We were concerned to what path such a connection would take you; it was in your best interest."

Odin staggered a little to the side, Loki inhaled sharply, his eyes pricking with anger and he neared the man he had called father for so long. His voice became lower yet its passion was not lessened.

"There is nothing more pathetic than someone trying to justify their actions as good intentions."

His father could take no more, the Odinsleep overcame him and Loki had all that he wanted… almost. Deep inside he wanted to show his father his promise, to prove himself the true son that Asgard needed. But while he had power the struggle would be to keep it. It would require strength and resolution, destroying Laufey to assure his position and to bring back that one person he truly trusted. Another worry nagged in his mind, Loki worried about Thor. A son of Odin so accustomed to the life on Asgard would surely try and find a way to return? Thor was obstinate enough to be capable of that, his friends the warriors three and Sif certainly pined for their friend he knew. An end had to be put to Thor's connection with Asgard. Loki had to crush his brother's hopes and how better than to make him believe he was the cause of their honoured father's demise. It was easily done and once accomplished he looked upon his brother's broken expression, it was the final knife wound in his grand scheme suggested success. Yet he had no further clue to the whereabouts of Evadine.

Loki spent intermittent times on Earth trying to find secrets, hints of where she might be and of course his absences naturally gave momentum to further suspicion from Thor's friends. After several days of tireless searching, he hit upon a point of reference that interested him. It appeared a Dr Hendelman had found a course of drugs that could successfully half the time of common colds and flu and was revolutionising the treatment of such burdensome illnesses. The good doctor seemed an odd fellow to discover such a thing as he was not a specialist in bacteria and disease and the sudden revelation of this drug made Loki suspicious.

It was difficult to procure an interview with Dr Hendelman, yet when the latter entered the room he did not seem surprised or uncomfortable to be receiving a stranger. Dressed in accustomed clothes of humans, Loki looked the same as any other man. Dr Hendelman seemed to see past this ruse but shook his hand as was customary.

"What can I do to help you Mr….?"

"I am making enquiries as to the location of a person I feel you may know." Loki replied forthrightly, ignoring the request of his name.

"I suspect I may. Your coming is not a surprise to me."

"I see." Loki said a feeling of defensiveness came into his being, there were powers on this planet that may be expecting others like him due to Thor's not so subtle entrance and he needed to be on his guard.

"I have heard there is a man being kept captive at a facility after penetrating its defences." Hendelman explained. "Truly remarkable, is he the man you mean?"

"I am aware of the man, though he no longer concerns me."

"Then your dealings are with someone else?"

"They are imperative."

Dr Hendelman gripped the back of his chair and cast his eyes at the floor, considering for a moment. Loki watched him like a hawk, trying to pinpoint any attempts at deception. He would not leave this room until he had some answers and he was willing to gain them by whatever means necessary. At last Dr Hendelman looked up again and the pair gazed at one another a moment.

"You've come along way." He stated and Loki could not help but emit a small, bitter laugh.

"I have come too far."

"What do you hope to seek from this person that you believe I know?"

"Do not seek to delay me with questions good Doctor, I am aware you and I know the same person and she may have asked you not to betray her whereabouts to me. But believe me when I say that I journey here for her best interests."

"How so?"

"She was wronged, I am rectifying her plight." Loki explained it was refreshing to explain his motives to someone open to listening; there may be some merits to these humans, or this particular human. "You appear to have done well for yourself Dr Hendelman, some might find your discovery unusual on closer inspection."

"I specialise in the structure of cells and their decomposition and repair. The connection is not so strange."

"Was it a very sudden discovery?" Loki asked, smiling as he did so showing Hendelman he already guessed the truth. Dr Hendelman looked down again, his expression was not worried but he was clearly rethinking his position. Looking back to Loki he sighed.

"The… lady." Dr Hendelman said before pausing, a small twinkle appearing in his eye. "Is very dear to me, I should like to see her well, I understand that she has been far from home a long time. Years in fact."

"Not years, though banishment of her nature must make it feel so."

"She is one of you?"

"Yes, she is of Asgard." Loki answered, at last betraying what they both already knew, but Dr Hendelman looked confused and shook his head.

"Then we are speaking of two differing ladies, I'm afraid."

Loki jerked with rage and sucked a harsh breath through his teeth, he had come so far and with such conviction, could he now be wrong?

"We cannot be." He demanded, nearing the Hendelman wanting to shake the truth from his lips in angry desperation. "The lady is known as Evadine and I know that she acquainted with you."

The Doctor again looked at Loki for a moment, the raw emotion spilling from the Asgardian beginning to intimidate him. He had seen such passion before, was this man her equal?

"You are Loki."

"I am."

"Your lady, she is like water."

"She has troubled my mind since her banishment; I must rectify her plight and return her to her home."

"Why?"

"To undo the injustice laid upon her head as it was mine."

"You need her?" Hendelman interjected with a small rueful smile. Loki did not like to be presumed, this man thought he was pining like some love sick puppy, he was not.

"I imagine you also find her very…. Useful? This success I imagine did not come from years of dedicated research."

Dr Hendelman did not want to discuss his discovery, he knew enough of whispers of men with superhuman qualities being grouped by an unknown force, for all he knew Loki may be one of them. Yet looking at him, his dark hair, pallid expression and intense gaze Hendelman surmised he was a solitary man.

"You say she is of this… Asgard?"

Loki gripped Hendelman by the throat and lifted him from the ground with such ease that a cry escaped his lips.

"Tell me what you know or I shall grind every bone in your body to dust. I have not the time or patience for your inconsequential questions."

"I fear… Loki… that you do not truly know her at all." Hendelman stammered, Loki dropped him to the floor, his body colliding painfully with the tiles. Loki began to retreat to the door, patience exhausted, Hendelman called out to him.

"She told me to tell you… eventually."

When Loki abruptly turned Hendelman feared that he would inflict further pain upon him but the demi God stood still, waiting.

"Search for secluded waters, you will find her there. I do not know anymore."

Loki gave the Doctor one last glance before returning to the throne room of Asgard. His mind reeled. A new feeling penetrated his being; it rushed upon him and flooded every sense so quickly that his legs no longer seemed ready to support him. He sat upon the steps, his lean fingers running through his hair several times as he tried to think. The words of Hendelman confused him and he knew their cryptic nature had been informed by the one he sought. He was not lovesick, he was not pathetic but it was not unnatural to seek out a kindred spirit. Something in them both was so alike that it weaved together naturally. Yet when he had her what would he be then? Where would he stop? There was much to take, much to prove… and much to lose. He shook off that last thought; he would never lose for to lose would mean he would have to be weak.


End file.
